Vivipary, which is the germination of seeds before they are shed from the mother plant, is a remarkable condition because of its rarity in flowering plants involving complex ecophysiological processes. Anabasis elatior is a hyperxerophytic, viviparous subshrub that primarily occurs in the Junggar desert, which is situated between the Tian Shan and Altai mountain ranges in Xinjiang Province, north-western China.The plants are 30-50 cm tall, the woody stem is much branched, gray-brown to gray-white, and annual branches are erect or slightly obliquely spreading with 10-20 internodes. To better understand how A. elatior is adapted to the Junggar desert environment, we investigated seed morphs, germination traits, seedling desiccation tolerance and climatic variables (temperature and relative humidity). Our main results were as follows. (1) Individuals of A. elatior were about 30-50 cm in height. Its fruits matured in October. The fruits had a lignified perianth with long wings and green utricles, thus they cannot easily be dispersed from the mother plant by wind. The seed was (4.175±0.132) mm in length, (3.146±0.109) mm in width and weighed (3.727±0.137) g. The fruits still adhered to the mother plant during winter and were covered by snow over this period. The snow melted in early spring (i.e. from early March to early April), during which time the maximum air temperature was maintained at -15 ℃ and the relative humidity was 50%-60%, and the seeds germinated on the mother plants and developed into viviparous seedlings. (2) When vivipary occurred, the radicle emerged through the pericarp and the hypocotyl grew rapidly, developing into viviparous seedlings 1-7 cm in length. (3) The percentage seed germination was at least 78% after 15 days incubation at day/night temperatures of 30/15, 25/15, 20/10 and 15/5 ℃ under a 12 h photoperiod. Differences in germination percentage among the four temperature regimes were not significant. Seeds could germinate 6-7 h after imbibition at each temperature regime, with germination accelerated with increasing temperature. (4) Viviparous seedlings dispersed naturally from their mother plant and developed into independent plants. The seedlings were capable of surviving drought and recovering growth after rehydration. Seedling survival rate was influenced by seedling length at the time of dispersal and duration of dehydration. Seedlings 0-1 cm in length were able to rehydrate after drought stress for 14 days and some recovered growth after rehydration, whereas seedlings 4-5 cm long did not recover. Thus, the viviparous propagules of A. elatior are capable of prolonged tolerance of adverse environmental conditions. Viviparous seedlings exhibited normal development and were no different from non-viviparous offspring. However, since germination times vary among the viviparous progeny, the seedlings exhibited differences in size and degree of organ development. In conclusion, both sufficient melting snow and traits for rapid germination can accelerate viviparous germination of A. elatior seeds. Vivipary and seedling desiccation tolerance are specialized, evolutionarily advantageous traits to promote plant survival and reproduction in the harsh Junggar desert environment. These traits also provide a biological mechanism to protect the embryo from extreme saline conditions. Viviparous propagation in A. elatior represents one adaptive strategy of desert shrubs to the harsh environment and is of important theoretical significance in studying the evolution of plant life history.